SIGHTING: FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"When I was in the Army we went to Fort Irwin the national training center. We were there in preperation for our deployment to Iraq. I was in Alpha Company 3-4 an regt, 4th ID based out of Fort Hood. On a late night flight one night around the 16th of October I was crewing my Blackhawk UH-60 helicopter. I was a crew chief and had undergone the Army's training for identifying foreign and domestic military aircraft and armorment. That night we were flying parallel to a small mountain range. I was looking out my window aided by my anvs-7 night vision goggles With a peq-2 infrared laser and spot light on my M240 machine gun. Sorry a little side tracked. I was scanning my window for possible hazards to my aircraft When I noticed what looked like a really bright star. I thought it was cool. For some reason I stayed focused on the "star" for a about 30 seconds. Something was different. I pointed my M240 at it and engaged my IR laser. Guiding it onto my "star". As soon as my laser made contact with it the star shot off going straight north. This thing went from a stand still to mind boggling speed. It was out of sight within a few milliseconds. My pil ok t saw I t after it took off and told me to look at the shooting star. I have only told my wife and 2 close friends about this event. Wasn't scary..just really cool. "